"How the interview is conducted here is the most important thing. Since I've already made an attack on Rimaldo earlier, this is critical."

‘Even now, thinking about it, what I did was the right choice.’

I don't particularly regret it.

Before I was a streamer, I was a viewer who enjoyed Rimaldo’s broadcasts, so saying something like this had been on my mind for a while. He'd frequently abandon his broadcasts and only show up for tournaments. With these thoughts in mind, I began to speak.

“First, thank you for inviting me to such a prestigious tournament.”

[🗡️전지좆능한크툴루: Prestigious? (It was held yesterday)] [Why is this even called prestigious?] [There’s absolutely no prestige, hahaha] [망밍: If it’s been two days, isn’t that basically history?] [This is so absurd, hahaha] [강후민입니다: Stupidity is everywhere, haha] [남 비하는 강평, haha]

When others were being interviewed at the finals, they all spoke like this, so I just followed suit. Maybe if Pine continues holding tournaments in the future, it might truly become prestigious. With these random thoughts, I continued speaking.

“I said something to Rimaldo earlier during the tournament, but most of it wasn’t sincere. Don’t overthink it, everyone.”

I noticed that during Pine’s broadcast earlier, some viewers couldn't see the broadcast for what it was and got too involved in it, which is why I said this.

[🗡️전지좆능한크툴루: Overzealous fans, really need to leave, should just die] [Seriously, why should they die just for getting too involved?] [This is so ridiculous, hahaha] [망밍: The whole internet broadcasting thing is basically one giant WWE] [If the takedown is well executed, Rimaldo should take it properly] [하린: That’s true] [The whole country’s like a giant WWE...] [Na-goW ㄷㄷ]

Fortunately, it seemed like my viewers weren’t getting too overly involved. I breathed a sigh of relief and continued speaking.

“I happened to participate in the Finding Cup by chance this time, and I’m happy to have won.”

This seemed like a very standard response. No controversies and I even expressed my gratitude toward Pine for hosting the tournament.

[🗡️전지좆능한크툴루: Perfect interview, hahaha] [Now this is an interview] [Before, it was just fighting, but now he’s really improved, hahaha] [Let’s avoid controversy and keep broadcasting for a long time] [망밍: Congratulations on winning] [환희: Celebrate the victory with no broadcast restrictions, let’s goooo] [강후민입니다: No broadcast restrictions, nice]

After the interview, Pine asked me a few more questions, and I answered.

"Alright, the interview is done, so you can start your broadcast again now. I’ve been broadcasting for a while today, so I want to take a break."

Then, the interview was over. Just a moment ago, I was worried about how to handle the interview when I saw others doing theirs. And then, a moment later...

The connection on Discord was cut.

Pine had apparently ended the call.

“Ah, I thought I was going to die from the nervousness.”

I didn’t even remember whether I had spoken properly because I was so nervous. I had never felt this nervous in my life.

[Viewer count: 74,292 viewers]

It would be weird not to feel nervous in front of so many viewers. Relieved that I had finished the interview without any problems, I checked the chat.

[🗡️전지좆능한크툴루: Totally understandable to be nervous, hahaha] [It’s natural to be nervous with so many viewers] [First time seeing over 70,000 viewers] [This must be Pine’s blessing...] [Why are so many people watching this one-on-one thing, hahaha] [Well, it’s Pine doing it, so obviously people are watching] [But really, there are a lot of viewers] [So, the prize money, huh? So, the prize money, huh? So, the prize money, huh? So, the prize money, huh?]

“The prize money? I’ll keep it all. Why would I give it to you guys?”

Of course. This isn’t money I got just by sitting still. It’s money I earned after working hard for two days.

[🗡️전지좆능한크툴루: Wow, that’s harsh] [Just give a little bit of the prize money] [He’s keeping it all for himself] [강후민입니다: Let’s at least buy a cyberburger set and share it] [Why are you asking for a burger, you guys aren’t beggars] [Isn’t sharing burgers an ancient tradition?] [Are you breaking the tradition of the FGAL?] [하린: Hahaha] [Breaking the rules of FGAL… what happens then?]

The chat was filled with chaos. There was a simple way to stop this madness.

I thought for a moment and said.

“Alright, since I won today, let’s meet again tomorrow. I’m getting a little sleepy now.”

[🗡️전지좆능한크툴루:?] [What is this nonsense?] [Don’t say nonsense] [No more nonsense] [Throw the cyberburger! Throw the cyberburger! Throw the cyberburger!] [하린: Look at how he’s dodging this] [망밍: As expected, escape, haha] [강후민입니다: No, it’s not escaping]

There were people in the chat calling me an escaper, but this is not escape. I didn’t turn off the broadcast and run away. I kept the broadcast going consistently.

‘And I even won.’

I had done everything, and now people were calling me an escaper.

“I’m leaving now as a relevant streamer, everyone. Hope you all have a peaceful day.”

[🗡️전지좆능한크툴루: Damn, don’t leave] [Well, it’s kind of hard to hold onto after such a long stream today, but still, stay a little longer] [You garbage] [하린: See you tomorrow] [망밍: Bye-bye]

I said my goodbyes to the viewers.

[The broadcast has ended!]

The broadcast was over.

“Phew.”

It had been a tiring day. I had expended a lot of mental energy managing the tournament. Thankfully, I won the prize money, otherwise, it would have been a complete waste of effort.

Relieved, I lay down on my bed.

Two days after winning.

I was working my part-time job just like any other day.

“Two Americanos and one smoothie, here you go.”

Although the café was just a neighborhood place, it served not only coffee but also smoothies. My body was exhausted.

I served the drinks, then sat down for a moment and checked my bank account.

[Balance: 53,302,130 KRW]

‘This is it.’

Ten million had been deposited into my account. A pure ten million.

I had expected it to be after taxes, but the amount after taxes was actually ten million.

‘As expected, big companies are different.’

How much money must they make to give away ten million as the first prize? Even if I had a lot of money, I don’t think I could do that. It was impressive.

As I stood up from my seat, I noticed Sin Ye-hwa was on her phone.

‘What’s going on?’

Usually, Sin Ye-hwa never wore earphones even when there were no customers. Something must be going on.

Curious, I stared at her, and then—

“Puhuhu…”

I heard Sin Ye-hwa giggling. I had never seen her laugh like that in a long time.

What video could she be watching?

I continued to look at her.

“Ah.”

Sin Ye-hwa must have noticed my gaze because she pulled the earphones out of her ears.

“You can keep watching. You don’t have to take them out.”

“No, I was messing around during work hours. Sorry about that.”

“Eh, it’s fine. There aren’t many customers, so you can take a break. You’re here all day anyway.”

Sin Ye-hwa works here almost all day, so no one would criticize her for taking a break like this.

“Hmmm... Is that so?”

“Yeah, you can relax. It’s weird for me to say anything.”

“Ahahaha…”

“By the way, what were you watching? I’ve never seen you laugh like that before.”

I was curious about what made her laugh like that. What video could it have been?

Sin Ye-hwa explained while still smiling.

“Ah, I was watching an internet broadcast clip. You probably won’t know who it is.”

An internet broadcast. That was surprising, considering it didn’t really seem like something Sin Ye-hwa would watch.

“I also watch internet broadcasts sometimes. Who do you watch?”

I thought she might mention one of the major streamers, like Pine or someone else. I was expecting something like that.

But then—

“I’m watching someone named Dama.”

I was completely taken aback. Dama? That wasn’t the name of any pool term I knew. It could only be referring to me—the Dama streaming on Twitch.

That’s when I felt a sense of discomfort.

To think that someone who works part-time in the same place as me is watching the broadcast of someone named Dama… it felt like she must have known who I was.

Of course, I could be overthinking it.

Maybe she recognized me after I won the Finding Cup and said, “Dama.”

But still, it was worth asking.

I thought to myself as I opened my mouth.